In Other Words: Learning to Trust

"Come on Tara, I will catch you," Daddy urged with his arms outstretched. He was so close I could see the droplets of water hanging onto the ends of his mustache. I crouched down on the deck looking down into the depth of the above ground pool. How I wanted to get in but I was so afraid.

"Come on, you know Daddy would never let anything happen to you. Trust me." Trust. In my seven year old mind that was something that seemed impossible! Over and over again for four hours Daddy came to me urging me to trust him and jump in.

Finally, right before we were about to go in I closed my eyes and jumped. To my amazement I landed right in my daddy's arms! "See? he said. "I caught you! I'll always catch you, you can trust me." I nodded and clung to his neck as he walked me around the pool. Eventually I became comfortable floating on my back with Daddy's arms cradling my back and legs. At that moment I knew I could trust him.

The next morning came and I hurriedly put on my pretty pink swimsuit, grabbed my towel and headed for the pool again. There was Daddy once again beckoning to me. As I walked toward him, fear gripped me once again and the process began again.

As I read the IOW quote this week I was brought back to this time with my earthly father. His words were never demeaning, he never laughed at me, even when I failed to trust him day after day after day. He just kept pursuing me, telling me he loved, urging me to trust him, to rely on his strength in spite of the "big-ness" of the pool that I feared so much.

As I am writing this I can hear the same urgency in my heavenly Father's voice. "Trust me Tara, rely on Me." Why is it so heard some times, yet so easy at others? Don't I know that He would never harm me? Haven't I learned that His arms are big enough to carry me and reach high enough to catch me?

In many ways the "pool" is still so big to me and at times seems deeper than I can handle. Do I fear being enveloped by the vastness of the depth of my world or am I lacking in my reliance on Him?

As C.S Lewis so wisely stated, "Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing yet had been done."

I'm sure that every high wire walker faces the reality of gravity each time she performs. She cannot rely on yesterday's confidence because it cannot keep her today.

Our trust and reliance on God must be fresh every morning. The Word says that, "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning... "(Lamentations 3:23-24)

I did eventually learn to swim on my own and I attribute it to the sweet, encouraging compassion of my earthly daddy who allowed me to learn to trust and rely on him day by day. How grateful I am that I also have a heavenly Father who gave me the same freedom and has allowed me to learn to trust Him one day at a time.

** Thanks to "Sting My Heart" for hosting "In Other Words" this week. Stop by and check out the other writings by the other "destiny driven" women!